A Debate Over Rights

Philosophical Enquiries

Matthew Kramer, N. E. Simmonds, and Hillel Steiner

A Debate Over Rights

Philosophical Enquiries

Matthew Kramer, N. E. Simmonds, and Hillel Steiner

Description

This collection of essays forms a lively debate over the fundamental characteristics of legal and moral rights. The essays examine whether rights fundamentally protect individuals' interests or whether they instead fundamentally enable individuals to make choices.

A Debate Over Rights

Philosophical Enquiries

Matthew Kramer, N. E. Simmonds, and Hillel Steiner

Table of Contents

Preface, Matthew H. KramerIntroduction, Matthew H. KramerRights Without Trimmings, Matthew H. Kramer1. Setting the Hohfeldian Table2. Rights Without TrimmingsAppendix: Getting Hohfeld RightRights at the Cutting Edge, N. E. Simmonds1. Background2. The Fundamental Issues3. Hohfeld and the Fragmentation of Rights4. Hohfeld and the Kantians5. The Interest Theory of Rights6. The Modern Will TheoryWorking Rights, Hillel Steiner1. Preliminary Intuitions about Rights2. From Hohfeld to Hart: The Modern Will Theory3. Some Apparent Problems with the Will Theory4. From Hart to Kant: The Classical Will Theory (Partly) Redeemed5. Some Real Problems with the Interest TheoryIndex

A Debate Over Rights

Philosophical Enquiries

Matthew Kramer, N. E. Simmonds, and Hillel Steiner

Author Information

Matthew Kramer is Professor of Legal & Political Philosophy, University of Cambridge, Fellow and Director of Studies in Law, Churchill College (Cambridge), and Director of the Cambridge Forum for Legal & Political Philosophy.

Nigel Simmonds is a Reader in Jurisprudence, Cambridge University, and Fellow and Director of Studies in Law, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

Hillel Steiner is Professor of Political Philosophy, University of Manchester.

A Debate Over Rights

Philosophical Enquiries

Matthew Kramer, N. E. Simmonds, and Hillel Steiner

Reviews and Awards

"...all three of the essays are quite well written, and the authors expound their positions with admirable vigor and clarity. This work will certainly be of significant interest to anyone concerned with the Hohfeldian jural framework, the 'Interest' and 'Will' theories of rights, or the rival analytic and evaluative approaches to the philosophical foundations of rights theory. It is, then, a more than welcome addition to our ongoing 'debate over rights'."--The Law and Politics Book Review